Samsung heir arrested in corruption scandal

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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - JANUARY 12: Lee Jae-Yong, vice chairman of Samsung arrives at the office of the independent counsel on January 12, 2017 in Seoul, South Korea. The independent counsel team investigating the peddling scandal involving South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil summoned Samsung Group Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong for questioning on charges of perjury as he allegedly lied about the money Samsung donated to Choi through multiple channels in the parliamentary hearings last month. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Samsung heir arrested in corruption scandal

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - JANUARY 12: Lee Jae-Yong, vice chairman of Samsung arrives at the office of the independent counsel on January 12, 2017 in Seoul, South Korea. The independent counsel team investigating the peddling scandal involving South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil summoned Samsung Group Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong for questioning on charges of perjury as he allegedly lied about the money Samsung donated to Choi through multiple channels in the parliamentary hearings last month. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

HONG KONG — The heir to the Samsung business empire has been arrested on corruption allegations.

Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of South Korea’s biggest conglomerate, has been under investigation as part of the huge political corruption scandal that has rocked the country.

Early Friday, a judge in Seoul approved a request from prosecutors for an arrest warrant for Lee, the prosecutor’s office said. That means Lee will be held at the detention center where he had been awaiting the court decision.

Prosecutors allege that the executive, who’s also known as Jay Y. Lee, pledged tens of millions of dollars to win favor with President Park Geun-hye and secure government support for a controversial merger that helped tighten his grip on Samsung.

They are accusing him of bribery, perjury, concealing criminal profits, embezzlement and hiding assets overseas.

“We will do our best to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings,” Samsung said in a statement Friday after the judge approved the arrest warrant for Lee.

The judge rejected a request for a warrant to arrest Park Sang-jin, the president of Samsung Electronics.

Lee is a vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, the crown jewel in the family’s sprawling array of businesses, which also include construction, shipbuilding and even theme parks.

The prosecutors first sought to arrest Lee in January, but a judge turned down that request, citing a lack of evidence. At the time, the prosecutors vowed to “steadily” pursue their investigation of the Samsung heir.

The case is part of a far-reaching scandal that has driven hundreds of thousands of South Korean protesters to the streets and prompted lawmakers to vote to impeach the president. Other top South Korean companies are also under investigation.

Samsung’s links to the corruption investigation have done further damage to the company’s image after the humiliating fiasco over its fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 smartphone last year.

Lee is far from the first South Korean business leader to face accusations of corruption. His father, Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, was convicted twice — and pardoned twice.